Anth 100 - Backyard Archaeology

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As I move around the chamber, the next artifact I find is located next to where I found the smaller artifacts. It is a very large, almost rectangular shaped object that is attached to a flat oval shape. This object is sitting on a corner stand****. It is made of some type of material that I have never seen before. It weighs approximately seven to ten pounds and approximately 40 inches in diameter. As I run my fingers down the sides of the object, I can feel several indentions that seem to move when pressure is applied. The front is covered in glass. It has a long black tail with two metal prongs attached. It bears a strong resemblance to the communications device that is in every home in the 25th century. I suspect that it is indeed some kind of viewing device. Sitting next to the larger object is a small, long rectangular object. It is black on one side and white with buttons on the other side. The black side has a white section that can be removed revealing a small compartment. Inside the compartment are two long cylindrical objects that are silver on each end. One end of the cylindrical object has an elongated tab in the center. The other end has a flat tab. The oval-shaped tabs on the white side have numbers, words, directional symbols and triangular shapes. When touched, the buttons move up and down. I think it may be what the previous owner used to control the viewing device.

On another side of the chamber there is a medium-sized, black rectangular object with a hinged lid sitting on a small black table***. Inside it has what looks like some kind of viewing screen, similar to the larger item across the chamber. There are letters, numbers and symbols on a series of small squares. These squares resemble the markings on the small rectangular device, only larger and shaped differently. When the squares are touched they move up and down. It also has a long black tail, but it is attached to a square box. The square box has a long black tail that has two flat prongs and a round prong on the end. The tail that is attached to the hinged object is detachable. So I think I may have found one of the first portable communication and viewing stations. I remember reading about this sort of thing in my Ancient History class.

Even though I see possible ideas as to what the glass and metal objects were used for, I have come to the conclusion that these items were probably used mostly for decoration by the former owner. They may have had other uses by the original owner or the person that made them, but I think they ended up being cherished decorations, possibly gifts from a friend or a family member.

I am basing some of my observations about the larger items in the chamber being pieces of furniture on prehistoric archaeology. I used this method because I remembered seeing similar items in various antique family photographic albums and I have also seen such items in some of the history museums I have visited. I used the ethnographic analogy method when trying to identify the smaller artifacts. This method allowed me to place the items into categories while I analyzed the artifacts. (Park, 2014)

I think the one of the most challenging things I encountered was not only trying to describe the time period in which the artifacts and the site were discovered, but the items themselves. A good description helps the reader get a visual and it helps the mind come up with possible ideas of what the artifact was used for. If you are not able to see the items firsthand, then you have to rely on the visual the description provides. Another thing I think would be challenging would be living in one era in history and trying to picture yourself in a past era, so that you can try to figure out was an artifact was used for. Some things are obvious, such as a plate or a cup, but others are not.

Through this particular archaeological adventure, I learned some interesting things about how a person in the 21st century lived and how they may have kept up on current events. It was a good learning experience. I gained more insight into the evolution process as well. Seeing the possessions of a person or a culture from the past helped me see what some of our 25th century items may have been based on. I chose to use a technique similar to that of David Macauley when he wrote Motel of the Mysteries. It allowed me to be more objective when looking at the items in the room I chose for my backyard archaeology paper. It also allowed me to have fun while writing the paper.

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Items with asterisks are the locations that the artifacts were found in.

*Chamber dimensions are approximately 12x12. This works out to be approximately 144 square feet or 13.38 square meters.

**The glass objects were found on the middle shelf of the shelf unit next to the large opening at the side of the chamber.

***Both the large black rectangular object and the small rectangular object were found on the small, black table in front of the large opening at the front of the gathering chamber.

****The extremely large black rectangular shaped object was found on a black stand in between the shelf unit and the corner of the chamber.

References

Park, M. A. (2014). Introducing Anthropology: An Integrated Approach (Sixth ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Education. Retrieved July 23, 2016

Smith, S. (2009, January 26). Motel of the Mysteries. Retrieved July 20, 2016, from The Society for Georgia Archaeology: http://thesga.org/2009/01/motel-of-the-mysteries/